Egypt in 2012

Chairmen of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Mohamed Hussein Tantawi (de facto) and, from June 30, President Mohammed Morsi

Head of government:

Prime Ministers Kamal al-Ganzouri and, from August 2, Hisham Qandil

EgyptBernat Armangue/APIn 2012 Egyptelected its first civilian president since before the Free Officers movement seized power in a military coup in 1952. In June Mohammed Morsi, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood who had run under the banner of the Brotherhood’s newly formed Freedom and Justice Party, defeated the former prime minister, Gen. Ahmed Shafiq, in a runoff election with 51.7% of the vote to Shafiq’s 48.3%. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which had governed the country since the resignation of Pres. Hosni Mubarak amid nationwide protests in February 2011, formally handed over power on June 30.

Morsi assumed office amid uncertainty about the true extent of his authority; during the runoff election in June, the SCAF had issued a last-minute constitutional declaration granting itself sweeping powers and limiting those of the incoming president. Five weeks into his presidency, however, Morsi appeared to outmaneuver the SCAF, seizing an opportunity to reshuffle the military’s senior leadership after an attack by Islamist militants in the Sinai Peninsula killed 16 Egyptian soldiers. Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the chairman of the SCAF, and Gen. Sami Anan, the chief of staff, were forced into retirement, and Gen. Abdul Fattah al-Sisi was made chairman of the SCAF and minister of defense. The SCAF’s June constitutional declaration was also canceled.

Soon after taking office, Morsi outlined five priorities for his first 100 days as president: improving the poor-quality state-subsidized bread, bolstering garbage-collection services, eliminating fuel shortages, strengthening public security, and solving traffic problems. In October Morsi claimed to have made progress in each of these areas.

On June 2 a judge sentenced Hosni Mubarak and Habib al-Adly, the former minister of the interior, to life in prison for having failed to prevent the killing of peaceful demonstrators during the uprising that began on Jan. 25, 2011. Mubarak’s sons, Gamal and Alaa, remained in prison during their trial for financial crimes.

In October Morsi attempted to dismiss Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, the attorney general, following the acquittal of all 24 defendants on trial for the killing and wounding of hundreds of demonstrators on Feb. 2, 2011, in an incident known as the “battle of the camel.” Morsi backed down after members of the judiciary denounced the move as an assault on judicial independence and rallied in support of Mahmoud.

A new People’s Assembly was elected in three rounds of voting held between November 2011 and January 2012. More than 70% of the 498 elected members came from the Freedom and Justice party and the Salafist Nur party, giving Islamists a controlling majority. Tensions regarding the Islamists’ dominance complicated the task of writing a new constitution. In April the Constituent Assembly appointed by the People’s Assembly was dissolved after liberal and independent members staged a boycott to protest what they said was the Islamists’ outsized influence on the drafting process. A new Constituent Assembly was formed in early June. On June 14 the Supreme Constitutional Court dissolved the People’s Assembly, ruling that the system used for legislative elections had been unconstitutional. The second Constituent Assembly remained intact and produced a draft constitution in November. Despite protests by the opposition, the constitution was approved in a December referendum with about 63% of the vote and was signed into law at the end of the year.

Egypt’s economy, still struggling to recover from the upheaval of 2011, was beset by rising consumer prices, high unemployment, and low salaries for workers, which led to a series of protests and strikes by teachers, doctors, textile workers, transportation workers, and other professional groups. Official statistics confirmed an overall poverty rate of 25% in 2011, compared with 16.7% a decade earlier, and a poverty rate of 50% in Upper Egypt. Unemployment stood at 13%. In August the government formally requested a standby loan of $4.8 billion from the IMF.

In March the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Shenouda III, died after 40 years as the pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the see of St. Mark. He was buried in a monastery near Cairo. He was replaced by Bishop Tawadros II. .

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